Like, Totally!

So following a few days illness late in March, I’ve spent the last couple of weeks on leave form my day job, relaxing, watching old episodes of Doctor Who, some Michael Palin travelogues, visiting York, that kind of thing. I also discovered Totally Doctor Who…

Sadly 9-5 isn’t conducive to watching children’s television (unless you’re a teacher…) but nevertheless the CBBC show devoted to Doctor Who is worth watching, with lively hosts and fun segments. This week’s installment featured Freema Agyeman in the studio and David Tennant on the set of a future episode, and each week’s installment is repeated on the CBBC channel at 6pm every Friday, especially for people like us.

Freema’s appearance on Totally Doctor Whois the subject of some content on the bar-raising FreemaAgyeman.com. So if you missed her, follow the link!

Freema, Freema, Freema… it’s quite a meditational mantra, and there’s more from the new TARDIS passanger in the second part of her Digital Spy interview. It seems that – possibly criminally – Freema hadn’t been to the Globe Theatre before the shoot for The Shakespeare Code:

The thing is, there’s no excuse for it – I’ve never been to the Globe before. It’s one of those things where if you have things on your doorstep, you take them for granted in a way. I thought I’ll get there, I will, I’ll go next week. I’d never actually been there before we filmed there, so what a double whammy, I mean. I knew I’d be going to the Globe. I stood on the stage with The Doctor on one side and Shakespeare on the other and that was one of my moments of ‘I can’t quite believe this’

Other than a desire to appear in Star Trek and The Simpsons, Freema is also asked about being the first (primary) black companion:

I am the first black companion, I know that people are going to pick up on that, but it’s that labelling of ‘black companion, black companion’, when it should probably just be ‘companion’ or ‘actor’ after a while. I appreciate that’s going to be there, but that’s why the part, for me, is so special. It’s non-stereotypical in any way, there are no limitations on colour or sex. It’s just liberating. When you’re fighting extra terrestrials, the differences between mankind become quite insignificant.

Elsewhere, SFX have reported on Russell T Davies recent interview in Broadcast magazine (the one where he made his “interesting” comments about Primeval), in which he speaks about the future…

“I’ve certainly got things lined up”, Davies says. “I’m talking to [TV production company] Red. I want to work with Nicola Shindler [producer of Casanova, Bob and Rose and Queer as Folk] again, and I want to live in Manchester again. My house is in Manchester.

“I’ve got a list of about 10 programmes in my head that I want to make. One of the stories will be about gay men, because I want to go back and write about them again in some shape or form. There’s a few characters boiling away; they just pop up, unbidden. Doctor Who has not elbowed them out.”

I’m not going to say anything about them already being in the Doctor Who universe via the show and Torchwood, oh no that would be very cheap and I’m not going to lower myself…